Dance Journalist
writing about
Gnawa - Morocco
Natural History Magazine
Features
October 01, 2023
Social Change, One Step at a Time
Buddhist nuns in Nepal are changing traditional, male-centric power dynamic through public performance of sacred dance.
December 01, 2020
Dancing on a Lotus
A thousand-year-old secret Newar Buddhist dance practice goes global.
March 01, 2018
A Javanese court dance represents and reinforces the power of the sultan and the values of the culture.
June 01, 2016
A choreographer expresses the contemporary
paradox of being a woman, Muslim, North
African, Arab, and artist.
Buddhist Door Global
November 29, 2024
Dorangthang Nunnery in Bhutan integrates cham into nuns' curriculum.
August 27, 2024
Treasure Caretaker Training trains participants in Buddhist approaches to preserving cultural and religious treasures.
July 11, 2024
Report on and elucidation of the Tsechu Cham as performed at Ralang Monastery in Sikkim.
May 29, 2024
A visit to Karma Drubdey Nunnery in central Bhutan, where female monastics are manifesting the rich heritage of cham — ritual Buddhist dance.
January 26, 2024
The story of the stupa construction, funerary ceremony, and cremation of the fearless Chöd master Lama Wangdu.
September 28, 2023
Nuns of Thrangu Tara Abbey broke glass ceiling with performance of sacred dance at 2014 Kagyu Monlam.
August 25, 2023
A group of Western practitioners make a pilgrimage to a remote region of Bhutan to manifest and sustain an ancient and sacred Buddhist dance.
June 14, 2023
The Buddhist nuns of Nagi Gompa in Nepal perform a sacred dance to cut through dualistic thinking.
February 28, 2023
An exploration of tantric song and dance practices at Druk Amitabha Mountain Nunnery on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
August 31, 2022
A tantric traditon from Nepal that brings dance and meditation together
Tricycle Magazine
Features
September 06, 2024
Grains of Becoming
Jangchub Choeling nuns from India tour the U.S. creating sand mandalas to educate about Tibetan Buddhist religious and cultural traditions.
July 27, 2024
Choreographing ‘Samsara’
Conversation with choreographer and dancer Aakash Odedra about his collaborative reimagining of Journey to the West and its key Buddhist concepts through dance.
May 20, 2024
Holding Avalokiteshvara
Lopön Jigme Tingdzin Zangmo discusses the profound practice of compassion found in the Druk Amitabha Mountain Center's annual Avalokiteshvara Drupchen.
February 21, 2024
Untying the Knot in 'The Monk and the Gun'
Review of Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji's wry allegory for his rapidly modernizing country.
October 30, 2023
Becoming Vajrayogini
Pilgrimage to Kathmandu Valley in search of the sacred feminine — Vajrayogini.
March 08, 2023
Nuns Dance to a Song of Interconnection
A visit to Tek Chok Ling Nunnery in Nepal sheds light on the nuns’ unique practice of dancing to Milarepa’s “A Song of Meaningful Connection.”
October 25, 2021
Dakini Dances
Female monastics claim their legacy of sacred Buddhist dance — empowering themselves and enriching their communities.
June 14, 2021
The Bhutanese Dance Legacy of Pema Lingpa —Still Thriving after 500 Years
On the 500th anniversary of the Great Treasure Revealer's passing, Bhutan hosts a year-long celebration, complete with the sacred dances he taught.
April 27, 2021
The Kung Fu Nuns Dance a Powerful Ritual
The fearless Drukpa nuns are breaking glass ceilings again—this time with ritual performance.
November 11, 2020
Teaching Happiness—Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom Review
Bhutanese film Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom offers a Buddhist lesson in true fulfillment.
June 11, 2020
Dancing Tara through COVID-19
A practitioner finds empowerment and community through performing the sacred dance of the Buddhist deity, Tara, using Zoom.
November 02, 2018
The Moving Mandala: Inside Bhutan's Sacred Dance Festivals
The story behind the Tantric master who brought sacred dances to the Himalayan region and the singular dance displaying his remarkable manifestations and activities.
Lion's Roar Magazine
October 02, 2020
The Kung Fu Nuns, Fighting for All Sentient Beings
A courageous group of Himalayan Buddhist sisters dance, cycle, and practice kung fu to champion gender equality and respect for the environment.
arts•meme
January 15, 2023
Vertigo Dance Company’s time to heal & time to dance
Vertigo Dance Company from Israel brings new work "Pardes" to New York's Baryshnikov Arts Center.
May 12, 2022
During her year-long tenure as artist-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, classical Odissi dancer Bijayini Satpathy challenged herself and museum visitors to respond to art and dance in new ways.
April 19, 2022
The Limón Company celebrates José Limón’s artistic legacy and brings his humanistic vision into the present moment and landscape.
April 15, 2022
Ashwini Ramaswamy, youngest family member of the Ragamala Dance Company, ventured out on her own creating a bold and refreshing experimental Bharatanatyam work Let the Crows Come.
DanceTabs
January 25, 2022
Reggie Wilson / Fist and Heel Performance Group – POWER
Reggie Wison's "Power" is a work borne of reimagining what Black Shaker worship was like in all its amazing complexity.
January 19, 2021
Japan Society – 2022 Contemporary Dance Festival: Japan + East Asia
Japan Society's contemporary dance festival showcases a new generation of engaging and skillful East Asian performing artists, who are generating refreshing work around new and old ideas.
December 17, 2021
Bijayini Satpathy Premieres Abhipsaa — A Seeking
An artist's journey into and out of solitude.
December 13, 2021
Maya Kulkarni & Kaustavi Sarkar — Woman with a Parrot
Migration of a dance from on-camera to live performance.
November 11, 2021
The Art of Fugue by ZviDance = Bach Cubed
A musical form ignites the pathway for the harmonious collaboration of many distinct voices.
October 31, 2021
Martha Graham Dance Company New York Season: On Human Nature
Opening night program of the Martha Graham Dance Company served up satisfying nourishment for the human soul.
October 25, 2021
Andrea Miller at the Martha Graham 2021-22 Studio Series
Report from a working rehearsal of Miller's new work, Scavengers, for the Graham Company's October season in one week.
September 30, 2021
Ragamala Dance Company Performs Fires of Varanasi: Dance of the Eternal Pilgrim
The Joyce Theater reopens its doors to initiate live performances with the Ragamala Dance Company.
Tashi Delek Magazine
Features
July 28, 2024
Touch the Sublime
Review of "Samsara," a multicultural collaboration created and performed by Aakash Odedra and Hu Shenyuan.
July 21, 2024
India Week
India Week at Lincoln Center opens with Ragamala Dance Company.
June 30, 2024
Finding Balance in an Unstable Universe
Rebecca Lazier talks about choreographing within the sculptural environment created by Janet Echelman in the work "Noli Timere."
March 24, 2024
Reaching for the Poetic: Shen Wei's 'Dongpo'
Shen Wei's ode to Chinese poet Su Dongpo.
March 03, 2024
A Golden Gift: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's 'Goldberg Variations'
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's 60th birthday gift to herself — dancing to J.S. Bach's 'Goldberg Variations.'
February 04, 2024
Timeless Expression: 'Nihon Buyo in the 21st Century'
Japan Society’s timeless program of traditional Nihon Buyo dance incorporating contemporary influences.
January 28, 2024
In Praise of Light: Compagnie Hervé Koubi Presents 'Sol Invictus'
Review of France-based Compagnie Hervé Koubi's 'Sol Invictus.'
January 21, 2024
Celebrating Process
A look at new commissioned projects of Works & Process at the Guggenheim.
January 07, 2024
A Hero's Journey: 'Call Me Dancer'
The film 'Call Me Dancer' tells the true-life story of Mumbai street dancer Manish Chauhan becoming a ballet professional.
Nov 05, 2023
Women's Stories
Interviews with creators of Limón Company's boundary-pushing program with new commission by Hilla Ben Ari.
Oct 22, 2023
Radical Dance for Now
Pop-up performances of early Martha Graham solos in galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art dialogue with exhibition of turbulent art and politics in the 1930s.
Oct 15, 2023
Bijayini Satpathy's Odissi
Bijayini Satpathy brings her artistry to New York City pioneering her own expression of Odissi dance.
August 13, 2023
Runners
Czech circus Cirk la Putyka debuts an existential "Runners" at PS21 in upstate New York.
July 30, 2023
One Dance
Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre presents a royal ancestral ritual, "One Dance," as part of Korean Arts Week at Lincoln Center’s "Summer for the City."
August 13, 2023
Looking for Juan
Ballet Hispánico presents a stirring visualization of painter Juan de Pareja’s life in “Buscando a Juan” in conversation with an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
July 16, 2023
Storytelling
At Kaatsbaan, Emily Coates and Emmanuèle Phuon's “We” uses narrative skills from disparate classical forms to tell stories about ritual, nature, cultural identity, history, and science.
July 02, 2023
Space for Transformation
Creating a space for transformation, Japan Society presents a new dance-opera developed by the Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary duo Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya.
June 18, 2023
Castles in the Sky
Gallim Dance returned to the Joyce Theater with a generous program titled “Bodies of Matter” that celebrated the company’s fifteen years.
May 28, 2023
Leaps and Bounds
Gibney Company goes forward in leaps and bounds with a spring season at the Joyce.
March 19, 2023
Naharin’s Enigmatic Hora
The Batsheva Dance Company returned to New York City after a four year hiatus to perform “Hora,” created by Ohad Naharin.
March 05, 2023
Dohee Lee Reimagines a Korean Ritual to Heal - Fjord Review
Dohee Lee invites the presence of her Korean ancestors for her world premiere of “Chilseong Saenamgut (Duringut): Ritual for Sickness.”
February 19, 2023
The Slowest Wave
A groundbreaking collaboration is afoot involving New York City butoh dance company Vangeline Theater, “The Slowest Wave.”
January 29, 2023
The Perpetual Motion of Longing
Sharon Eyal’s “Soul Chain” was created for and performed by tanzmainz, the contemporary dance company of the Staatstheater Mainz in Germany.
December 25, 2022
A Gift for the Season
Gibney Company presents Ohad Naharin's acclaimed work, "Yag."
October 02, 2022
An inspired program in celebration of Philip Glass's 85th birthday at Kaatsbaan featured five superb choreographers' responses to Philip Glass's etudes for piano played live by the finest interpreters.
August 21, 2022
Mythili Prakash and her collaborators — a second generation of diasporic Indian creatives who are daring to retell their cultural myths.
August 07, 2022
The Vertigo Dance Company from Israel inscribes pure poetry written onto the earth.
June 25, 2022
Interview with recipient of the 2022 Jacob's Pillow Award — renowned Belgian-Moroccan choreographer, dancer, and director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
April 25, 2022
Shamel Pitts and his international, multidisciplinary arts collective Tribe present long-delayed New York premiere of Black Hole: Trilogy and Trathlon offering a journey to find healing and home.
Ballet Review
Features
March 01, 2017
The Kanze Noh Theatre from Japan took audiences on a journey into their 700-year-old ritualized blend of music, poetry, drama, and dance at the 2016 Lincoln Center Festival.
March 01, 2015
The Early Work of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker brings a program of her early works to Lincoln Center in celebration of 30 years of making and performing dances with her company Rosas. Her dances are informed by a rigorous exploration of music forms and geometric structures.
September 01, 2014
The Legacy of Shiva
In India, the Hindu God Shiva is considered the Lord of the Dance and is believed to have danced the world into existence with his divine movements. This spiritual and artistic energy was renewed at the World Music Institute's "Dancing the Gods" festival as well as Nrityagram's odissi offerings at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.
June 01, 2013
What the Body Remembers
The apsaras, or celestial dancers, were always considered to be guardians of the Cambodian people. After the Cambodian culture suffered near annihilation at the hands of the genocidal Pol Pot regime of the late 1970s, its dancers and artists have regenerated their cultural legacy and brought a sampling to New York City in the form of Season of Cambodia.
Ms. Magazine
July 13, 2021
Empowering Women, Crushing Obstacles
The Kung Fu nuns of Nepal create change through ritual dance.
Witty Partition
April 01, 2021
A Reason to Dance
The rich dance legacy performed at Trongsa in Bhutan offers a superb example of how the Bhutanese use dance to express their most fundamental ideas.
ARCHIVE
Fjord Review
Ballet Review
Bureau Reports
Fall 2019
Fall 2019
Jiva Dance Offers Innovative Indian Dance Production Titled The
Four Horsemen
Fall 2019
Dancing the Gods Festival of Indian Dance 2019
Summer 2019
Nrityagram Performs Samhāra at the Metropolitan Museum of
Winter 2018
Saburo Teshigawara's Sleeping Water at 2017 Lincoln Center Festival
Winter 2018
Neena Prasad Dances Amrapali at 2017 Dancing the Gods Festival
Spring 2017
A Night at the Museum Celebrating 40 Years of Pentacle
Winter 2016
Javanese Shadow Play at Asia Society
Fall 2016
Desert Dancer at 2016 Live Ideas Festival
Fall 2016
Transcendent Arts of Tibet and India at Brookfield Place
Summer 2016
Archive and Badke Open the 2016 Live Ideas Festival
Spring 2016
Nrityagram at the Temple of Dendur
Spring 2016
Tari Aceh, Folk Troupe from Sumatra, Indonesia Performs at
Spring 2016
2015 Dancing the Gods Festival of Indian Dance
Spring 2016
Spring 2016
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan Performs Rice
Spring 2016
Japan Society Presents Traditional Dance and Music from Okinawa
Winter 2015
Becoming Another: The Power of Masks, an exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art
Winter 2015
Myanmar's Shwe Man Thabin Troupe at Asia Society
Winter 2015
Tokyo: Butoh Dance Troupe, Sankai Juku, Performs Umusuna: Memories Before History
Fall 2015
Center Stage presents Moroccan Choreographer Hind Benali's Identity
Summer 2015
Malavika Sarukkai at Asia Society
Summer 2015
El Paso: University of Texas at El Paso celebrates Centennial Anniversary with OperaBhutan
Spring 2015
Erasing Borders Festival of Indian Dance
Winter 2014
Two Mandalas—One of Sand, One of Dance
Summer 2014
Winter 2014
BIO
I'm a New York City-based dance writer and frequent contributor to Natural History Magazine and Ballet Review, covering contemporary and traditional dance at home and abroad.
My passion is to learn how people everywhere express themselves through movement and transmit that information. Wherever I travel, I engage with local performing artists and ritual practitioners to gain a deeper understanding of their dances and traditions --a window into how they understand the world.
I joined my first dance circle as a child accompanying
my mother to her weekly
international folk dance sessions at the local community center. Smitten by the physical movement and the exotic music, I sought out formal dance training, and earned a BFA in dance at North Carolina School of the Arts.
After moving to New York and working with several modern dance companies, I developed a creative movement curriculum for young children which I implemented in several New York City Schools.
Much later, I discovered that if I wrote about the dance I observed, I could enjoy the experience again and again.
CONTACT
For writing assignments or other inquiries, please contact me at:
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